God bless the Illinois Fair.

Photo: YouTube

The reason? You guessed it: Because it’s awesome.

According to UPI, despite a letter signed by the majority of the Lake County Board calling for an end to it, a race in which monkeys ride on the back of rescue dogs will go on as planned when the county fair commences July 29.

The “Banana Derby” has been a part of the Lake County Fair for the past six years, and its promoter doesn’t see what all the fuss is about.

“We cook for them, we clean for them, my mom and wife make clothes for them,” Philip Dolci said. “If I was doing something wrong, the people of Lake County wouldn’t have brought their kids back for six years to see us. They say, ‘We see the monkey every year.’ They know the monkey’s name. It’s insanity, really.”

But Lake County Board member Sandra Hart says dressing the monkeys up in “little jockey outfits” exploits and diminishes the value of the animals, so that’s why she authored a letter calling for the end of the “cruelty.”

Wow. Maybe it’s just us, but we thought “cruelty” meant something other than bringing smiles to children’s faces.